When Avery Bradley first entered the NBA, he did so with a reputation for being a pretty good outside shooter. But his first season and a half threatened to tear that reputation down. He couldn't hit anything. Each midrange jumper counted as an adventure. Every shot carried the potential to miss by five feet and maim a backboard or spectator or maybe even an opponent if Bradley was lucky.

His second year, things changed. He added the corner three to his repertoire, started hitting shots a lot more frequently, and put together a beautiful second half of the season during which he supplanted Ray Allen in the starting lineup and the Celtics transformed from a mediocre club into a quasi-juggernaut. But still, Bradley mostly just spotted up in the corner. He hardly ever tried above-the-break threes because he wasn't comfortable with doing so. For the most part, he didn't shoot off the move, presumably for one of two reasons: he didn't need to or he didn't think he could.

As we look at Bradley's arc of shooting improvement, I'm fine with throwing out his third season. He was coming off double shoulder surgery, after all. Then-assistant coach Ty Lue warned Bradley he would go through "a bad stretch" shooting the ball, and the guard said he didn't even disagree. He hoped he could prove the coach wrong but did not fully believe he could. And when Lue's fears proved warranted, the coach told Bradley, "I told you."

As Bradley told me earlier this season, "Sometimes I even forget: sh--, I had double shoulder surgery. My shot kind of changed a lot."

So yeah, I'm OK with overlooking his woes from the floor in 2012-13. But still, entering this year, Bradley could point to just a three-month period where he made shots. That's it. During his whole career. And those were mostly spot-up corner threes that happened because everybody else in the starting lineup warranted more attention.

When I point out the 23-year-old's three-point improvements, I do not just mean the basketball is falling through the nets more often. Sure, he knocked down five of six triples Saturday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, four of five the night before, and all four attempts the game before that, making him a blistering 13 for 16 since returning from an injury three games ago. But makes will come and go. I'm more impressed by the type of shots he's hitting and even attempting. He's not just spotting up in the corners anymore. He's flaring to the wing. He's pushing his midrange jumpers back behind the arc. He's relocating behind the line when his teammates get doubled in the post.

Head coach Brad Stevens explained the (very important) changes well to reporters in Cleveland.

"At the start of the season we saw a lot of those 20-foot long twos, and now they’re threes above the break," Stevens said, according to the Boston Herald's Mark Murphy. "He’s pulling up from three, he’s shooting the three off the catch, and his percentages are about the same from the long two to the three-pointer, and it’s another point."

Bradley's now comfortable with pushing some of his midrange jumpers back a few feet so they become above-the-break triples instead. He's up to 39.2 percent from the arc on the season and his shot profile is changing to become more and more efficient. Those are changes the coaching staff has stressed all season and Bradley's now comfortable enough to put them into his game. Especially for someone who struggles to finish in the paint and can't create much offense for others (at least at this stage of his young career), that's crucial. To become a real plus offensive player, Bradley needs to become a real threat from deep. And he's doing that.

Check out the three below, which came with 14 seconds left in the shot clock.

That's a tough shot. No way Bradley shoots that last season, or even earlier this year. No chance. But he did Saturday night against the Cavaliers. Of his five threes, four came from above the break, several of which were off the move, and the other was a flare to the corner that was pretty difficult itself.

"(Above-the-break threes are) something I want to put into my game,” Bradley said a few weeks ago, “because I know it can help me out a lot.”

This is exciting stuff. And while the 13-for-16 bonanza is just small sample size theater, the most important thing is that Bradley now has the confidence to take threes from anywhere. Even earlier this season, he admitted he did not feel comfortable with that.

I said this on Twitter Saturday night, but it's worth repeating: Bradley's not an elite shooter yet. But I'm no longer convinced he will never become one.